HTC moves beyond the phone, marginalizes Google in the process

HTC this week showed off a pair of new Android phones and its latest …

At HTC's London event on Wednesday, they company showed off two things. As expected, there were a couple of handsets: the Desire HD and Desire Z. But what HTC opened with was not handsets, but a new website—htcsense.com—and its accompanying phone front-end.

The phones were nice enough. The Desire HD is a GSM/UMTS/HSPA equivalent to the EVO 4G available in the US exclusively on Sprint; the Desire Z is slightly lower-specced than the HD, but will likely gain wide appeal as it has a hardware keyboard. The Desire Z will form the basis of the forthcoming T-Mobile G2 in the US, the spiritual successor to the G1 (which was, back in 2008, the first Android handset to ship). T-Mobile's version will include a different radio (to support T-Mobile's awkward 1700 MHz frequency allocation), and more excitingly, will support HSPA+, the next generation HSPA technology that ultimately provides data rates up to 56Mbps downstream, 22 Mbps upstream.

HTC Sense... makes sense

The HTC Desire HD

But the hardware wasn't really the point of the event. What the company was more excited about, and spent most of the time on-stage talking about, was software and web services. Specifically, HTC's Sense software and the company's new HTCSense.com web services (though the site isn't actually accessible at present, as it's still in development). Even the operating system of the two phones—Android 2.2—barely got a mention.

HTC has long had custom front-ends on its smartphones. In the olden days of Window Mobile, it was largely to make up for user interface atrocities that operating system inflicted on users; TouchFlo and derivatives provided a shell that was at least somewhat finger-friendly, even if the rest of the operating system was stylus-driven. The latest incarnation, Sense, is a little different. The Sense customizations on the latest Android handsets are no mere thin veneer over operating system functionality. Rather, they are replacements for many of the Google-developed applications that typically ship with Android handsets.

For example, HTC has a new maps application that replaces Google Maps. It includes turn-by-turn and other expected features, but also includes some new, HTC-specific features. It allows maps to be precached, so that when abroad, say, you don't need to use expensive roaming data to pull down map information—you can load the maps you need at home, or using your hotel's WiFi, and then just stick with the cached data. HTC also showed off dialer integration; if you get a call when using turn-by-turn navigation, the dialer doesn't cover up the map software. Instead, it makes the map view slightly smaller, and allows the call to be answered from within the map application. The idea is to ensure that you don't miss a turn just because someone calls.

The online capabilities were not ground-breaking, but welcome nonetheless. Text message backup, photo backup, and lost phone functionality were all included in HTCSense.com. In contrast with Apple's similar MobileMe offering, but in keeping with Microsoft's equivalent MyPhone service, HTC said that HTCSense.com would be free for anyone with a Desire HD or Desire Z. There was an implication that map data would be billed, however.

Attendees at the event didn't get much time to use HTCSense.com; the site isn't up and running, and so the handsets that were available to use couldn't access it. There were a few PCs available showing a prerelease version, and it appeared to work pretty much as expected. It offers the usual range of features: tell me where the phone is, ring it even if set to silent, wipe everything on the handset, as well as data syncing. Though slightly surprising that HTC wanted to tell the world about its online services without having even a placeholder site up, I'm sure that by the time the hardware launches—mid-October for the Desire HD, a little later for the Desire Z—everything will be working properly.

HTCSense.com was supported in both the handsets shown off, and is likely to be supported on future handsets using Sense. HTC was noncommittal when asked if it would bring the features to existing handsets. Company representatives said that the HTCSense.com integration was dependent on having the latest version of the Sense software, which in turn requires Android 2.2. This would obviously be a stumbling block for handsets that don't run Android 2.2 (such as the venerable G1), but it's less clear why this should be a stumbling block for, say, the Desire HD's close sibling, the EVO 4G.

It's an HTC phone, not a Google phone

The representatives were, surprisingly reticent about Android. Yes, these phones did run Android, but they weren't "Google Phones." The look and feel was all HTC, the online value-add was all HTC, and though I wasn't timing the presentation, I think even Windows Phone 7 got more stage time than Android or Google did. The company emphasized that Sense was no mere skin for the OS, but a complete online and off-line software stack.

In doing this, HTC is taking steps down the same path as Chinese manufacturer OPhone. OPhone is using the open-source parts of Android—the GPLed kernel and the Apache-licensed middleware—but not Google's paid value-add applications: Mail, Maps, and most importantly Market. I don't know if the new devices still provide the Google applications (I didn't see an icon for Google Maps in my time with them, but it's possible I overlooked it), but plainly HTC isn't far from having total replacements for everything except for Market itself.

Android is designed to allow this kind of replacement, so it's not surprising. Such replacements form a core part of manufacturers' ability to differentiate their products from each other. HTC, naturally, wants people to demand HTC phones, not merely "Android" phones, and adding unique software features is the way the company has chosen to do that.

With the new Sense, HTC is just going further than most (other than OPhone, obviously), but where HTC follows, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and others, are likely to follow, and for much the same reason as HTC: they don't want their handsets to be interchangeable with any other Android handset, they want specific features that will draw customers to their phones in preference to anyone else's.

After all, if it's worth it for HTC to spend time and money developing replacement software in preference to licensing Google's offerings, that's likely to be true for other manufacturers too. They're already taking steps in this direction (Samsung with its TouchWiz, Sony Ericsson's UX), and if HTC's move pays off, equivalent efforts will be the logical response.

The result of this could well be a marginalization of Google. Not overnight—companies like HTC still work closely with the advertising giant—but as the custom software matures, and vendors want to better distinguish their products, it seems likely. If the smartphone vendors are all writing their own software atop the free Android middleware, and eschewing Google's paid applications, the result could be that there's not much Google left. The Android strategy—give away the base operating system, but charge for the important user software that makes the OS useful—makes less sense if everyone writes their own user software anyway.

You can't do that with Windows Phone 7

This makes an interesting contrast with Windows Phone 7. Though HTC representatives wouldn't confirm any specifics about the company's plans for the platform, they expressed considerable excitement about it, along with some degree of optimism; they feel that the operating system works well and has much to offer users, albeit with concern that unless people actually try out the interface, it may be difficult to promote. Windows Phone 7 takes a different tack to Android and iOS, and while it's pleasant and coherent in use, it will nonetheless feel very different for users more familiar with those platforms.

Windows Phone 7, unlike Android, all but eliminates customization by manufacturers. There are a few areas that they can modify—camera controls are hardware manufacturer-specific, for example—but most of their custom features are "regular applications," just the same as third parties can write. Wholesale shell replacements aren't allowed.

HTC still believes that it can do enough with Windows Phone 7 to ensure that HTC's handsets are uniquely appealing to customers. Two leakedvideos purportedly of HTC's Windows Phone 7 software show off the kind of thing that the company may be doing—but they also show off how little the company can do. Weather, stock tickers, and notes, but that's all: the home screen still looks like plain Windows Phone 7, features like e-mail, music, and text messaging all look like plain Windows Phone 7, and that's because they are. Nobody's allowed to change them.

Nor does it look like HTC be able to offer HTCSense.com-like features for Microsoft's platform; Microsoft itself will be offering this kind of functionality (though the details will differ), eliminating another avenue for product differentiation.

The result is that regardless of manufacturer, all Windows Phone handsets will be Windows Phone handsets first and foremost—not HTC or LG or Dell or Asus-Garmin. In terms of the value they offer to the hardware companies, the two platforms are diametrically opposed. Where Google is at risk of being made invisible on Android phones, the hardware companies have a similarly low profile on Windows Phone 7 devices.

Google may be comfortable with this—though it represents a potential loss of revenue, the company's main purpose is to sell adverts, so as long as Android phones have free and unfettered access to the web, Mountain View should be happy. The hardware companies win—free access to a decent middleware platform—and though Google won't exactly be winning too, it won't be losing. Besides, there's always revenue from the Android Market.

But for Windows Phone 7, the situation is less clear cut. In the face of a competitor that handset companies can make unambiguously their own, there may not be much desire to develop and promote a platform that renders the choice of manufacturer all but irrelevant: a platform where every phone is going to be unambiguously Microsoft.

Lot's of grammatical errors in there but a lot of great info none-the-less...

It's fascinating to see Android's maturation process unfold and how various handset manufacturers are using it in different ways. I think that with a new "Droid" being released every 2 months under a different manufacturer, it will be difficult to keep the excitement level high based on name alone, especially when users are locked into contracts.

It will be important for manufacturers to develop their own unique product rather than relying on the "Droid" or Google name to promote their devices. Especially as the market grows and saturation begins to set in.

Android is popular enough. Time for Google to switch licenses to something like LGPL or even GPL (from Apache) for most of Android. That way OPhone must publish its Android improvements (if there are any)

If you don't want to publish your code you can ship pristine Android (for a fee of course)

Wow, the downside of open source comming to light? Looks like Google is about to have android stolen right out from underneath them. Verizon App store, HtcSense.com, how long before everyone divides up android into little walled sub gardens that dont talk to each other. Seems, like if Google doesnt do something quick, The hardware manufactures, and carriers are going to carve android up into little pieces and kill it for all of us.

but not Google's paid value-add applications: Mail, Maps, and most importantly Market

I hope HTC and other OEMs realize that these things need to be 100% compatible with the Android apps out there. If they start monkeying with GUI code and subtly break even a small percentage of applications, the Android experience would be broken; and that would push people like me to a more cohesive platform like iOS.

As is, I've already had some frustration with downloading an app on my Samsung Galaxy S only to find that, for whatever reason, it won't work with my phone. I've seen applications with comments that list phones it does/doesn't work with. I wish I could remember the names of them. (One was a highly-rated free grocery list app; a text box wouldn't allow input, rendering the app useless)

The Google apps are the main reason why I use Android right now. If companies starting taking them out I might as well just switch to iPhone or WP7.

There will be "true" Android phones out there, we will just have to go with lesser known brands from time to time. Although in reality there is a general dislike of manufacturer added interfaces that it might not go too far, most user prefer plain Android, not Sense, Moto Blur, or Touchwiz

Maybe somewhere in here we can get away from the "Android vs. iOS" debate, which is ultimately going to be less interesting than the "HTC vs. Apple" or similar competition between actual providers of technology to the consumers.

The Android camp likes to point out how many Android-based phones are activated today or on the way soon, which is great for the carriers and the hardware makers because they can leverage nearly-free R&D from Google... but if each family of implementation becomes partitioned off from a user point of view (different available app stores, different families of built-in apps) then we are just enjoying a new slow march towards a new crop of walled-gardens.

Each one will have been thoughtfully fertilized by Google, but from the customer point of view, I think it's going to end up being about the carrier and the manufacturer, and the underlying operating system will gradually become invisible.

What a horrifying idea. For me, and I think a lot of people, one of the appeals for Android phones was that we could find a phone we want, and it would likely be available on the carrier of our choice. Returning to a completely carrier-focused model seems disgustingly limited. The Droid phones are a good example: many people love their Droid 1/2 phones, the fact that they're carried by Verizon is largely irrelevant. People would still love their Droid if it was on AT&T, or Sprint, or whatever. People fall in love with phones, not carriers, and certainly not the walled ecosystem being pushed by the phone's software writer.

I see tremendous appeal in being able to pick the phone features, form factor, and carrier of my smartphone (through the wide variety of models being offered), and still get the common software platform I want (Android). This seems to be a very backwards movement, skinning Android is one thing (and is largely easily removed), starting to create your own, separate ecosystem is not.

One advantage of vendors swapping applications and adding or removing functionality is that Google can have a large test bed of users to determine what features are most important to it's users. If people go bananas for what HTC adds or freak out over what been removed, then Android's development can take those as hot items to address.

That said, I don't like the overlays being built by the manufactuers or the locked applications added by carriers, they each tend to add a 'nice to have' feature but degrade performance or interfere with using the superior standard application for that purpose.

Google does indeed need to wield the mallet of loving correction on their partners to retain a core experience for Android. I would like if the overlays and additions were not absent, but rather 100% removable...

Too much sensationalizing with this story. It gives the impression that the consumer won't have a real choice on phone software. The software is irrelevant. It's the hardware and how it's utilized that's going to make or break a phone. That is one of the reasons that Windows Phone 7 will never be a danger to the others. (Unless it's XBox 360 compatible)

I think when HSPA+ is rolled out then, subject to there not being onerous usage caps, I'm dumping dsl for good. It's probably cheaper over a period of a couple of years - especially in £/MB terms - to buy a HSPA+ phone on contract and use it as a net gateway (or whatever you call it) than paying ££s for crappy DSL service.

When you put 56Mbps I had to do a doubletake, as my first thought was 'wtf? dialup???'

Also, Google were dumb... they should have realised that in the long run its the OS they should have been charging for, with free apps etc on top. Also, it sounds like maybe they went a little too opensource/GPL friendly? I guess we might start seeing 'powered by Android' logos more often in future, just so that no-one forgets who coded the kernel... (like anyone will care).

If I were an Android Developer expecting to sell my wares through the Android Marketplace, I'd be a little nervous about my future prospects. If Android just becomes the low-level OS, and manufacturers and carriers rely on their own stores for differentiation, then Android will lose its market power even if there are a lot of Android OS phones out there. Android's "market share" will be meaningless if there really isn't a monolithic Android Marketplace.

I don't think HTC (or any other Android phone manufacturer) is going to remove access to Android Marketplace. It would be foolish, in the extreme, to do so, as network effects are so critical for applications both in terms of developers and users. For example, T-Mobile advertises Android Marketplace as a feature of the G2.

Edit: Actually, I take that back. I could see them taking away access to Android Marketplace...but not taking away access to Android applications. Unlike the App Store from Apple, Android Marketplace is not the only way to get apps onto an Android device. I can possibly see Android apps going the way Windows desktop works now: most providers offer their own app from their own web site. But regardless, it certainly doesn't look like the G2, at least, will be messing with Android Marketplace.

... The software is irrelevant. It's the hardware and how it's utilized that's going to make or break a phone. ...

You don't happen to work for Nokia do you?

Of course it's all about the software. The proof is that hardware manufacturers like HTC, Motorola and SonyEricsson feel the need to provide custom interfaces because the hardware alone isn't enough to attract customers.

Yes, the hardware needs to be good as well, but good software will save bad hardware and bad software will kill good hardware.

My advice to HTC? Stick to what you are good at: making phone hardware. You are a nobody when it comes to cloud based services and you are trying to replace Google services? Good luck with that.

Assuming they take this insanity across the board here is what I'll do:

1. Buy an HTC phone, uninstall all of the HTC stuff and re-install all of the Google stuff2. If the experience differs enough to not allow for Google Marketplace support, I'll just not buy your hardware. There are plenty of other manufacturers out there who will play ball.

It will be important for manufacturers to develop their own unique product rather than relying on the "Droid" or Google name to promote their devices. Especially as the market grows and saturation begins to set in.

I disagree. The fact that it is an Android based, Google phone is what I'm after. I want apps that work regardless of carrier, making upgrades and switches easier.

Plus, remember in the mid 90s? Remember HP Personal Page or Acer Desktop or the various other OEM overlays to Windows? They were abominations that didn't work and made using a computer harder, not easier. Luckily, Microsoft cracked down on the OEMs and put an end to that crap. I don't want that experience on my phone.

I want Android and inter-changeability. Not carrier specific shenanigans.

Yeah, I hope there is a way to install Google Maps on those phones. I really don't think the OEMs could possibly have done it better.

Qblivion wrote:

The Google apps are the main reason why I use Android right now. If companies starting taking them out I might as well just switch to iPhone or WP7.

The over sensationalized article was a little deceiving. At least for the time being, no one is going to market an Android phone that does not have access to the Android Market. Right now, today, that phone would not sell without some replacement app store. If you have access to the Android Market, you can install Google Maps. The only thing Sense changes is the default programs. For example, on my HTC Incredible I don't get "Facebook for Android." I get HTC's custom version "Facebook for HTC Sense." However, when Facebook kept having problems with their site, it broke the Sense version of the app for a few hours, so I downloaded the base Android version from the Market.

Furthermore, despite their best efforts (not even a good try Motorola) manufacturers haven't been able to prevent access to the bootloader on any phone. Judging from computer history, as well as basic reasoning applied to locking mechanisms (if it can be locked, it can be unlocked) there's no reason to think this is going to change. There is still a very active community dedicated to unlocking these phones. If HTC were somehow to remove the Android Market (and therefore deprive access to Google Apps) a custom rom would be out shortly that restored access.

My question is how these changes affect existing Sense devices. Did HTC have any plans to update their Incredible/EVO/Wildfire/etc? On one hand, the maps changes sound great, but on the other hand, I don't know if I want them significantly changing the UI on my device after I've purchased it.

Dad got an HTC Desire the other day. Two problems so far: 1) 2.2 was not available at the time due to some Desires being bricked by it--they are "working out the bugs" or something; 2) cannot use a $30 app from LogMeIn that was one of the main reasons he bought the phone. I hadn't given it too much thought, but if the reason for #2 turns out to be that the HTC Sense UI is incompatible, then ugh!

Otherwise the phone is great, but, seriously, ugh. I guess I will probably root my phone to vanilla Android or one of the good user-made ones if I ever get one.

2. If the experience differs enough to not allow for Google Marketplace support, I'll just not buy your hardware. There are plenty of other manufacturers out there who will play ball.

There's pretty-much zero chance they will break compatibility with the Market. At worst, they might have a parallel Sense market for apps that specifically take advantage of what Sense offers.

Then there is no fear of fragmentation. While HTC might build their own apps and put them in their own store, I suspect that every developer that matters will not be stupid enough to build apps specific for HTC phones. The market is just not big enough. If a large majority of killer apps that work on other phones don't work on HTC phones (because it is missing certain Google features), carriers/customers will not like that. I don't see how HTC can marginalize Google that much without shooting themselves in the foot.

When I first got my EVO I liked Sense. I thought it cleaned up the look and feel of Android nicely and I appreciated what I thought was a better browser, better keyboard, and definitely better widgets.

Then, however, they shipped the 2.2 update with a (for me) show-stopping bug (broken AAC+ decoding for streaming audio), and once Google submitted a fix to the Android source code and custom ROMs adopted it, and HTC failed to update the device (still haven't to this day), I was forced to root and flash another ROM. Now I'm using CM6, stock Android keyboard, and LauncherPro and its widgets, and I don't think I can go back to a Sense interface. Certain stock Android apps are just better and I don't want them replaced (Maps, Gallery, keyboard, even Froyo's stock browser's window handling is better than HTC's browser's), and the phone feels MUCH faster. I don't know if it's due to not having the 30 FPS cap the EVO shipped with, or not having Sense, or what, but the fact is, the phone is a joy to use, and I don't feel like I'm ever fighting with the software like I sometimes used to.

So I liked Sense until I tried stock Android (well, customized by community stock Android), and now, and especially with Gingerbread, I'm just not interested in the manufacturer mucking with the software on my device. I hope the rooting and custom ROM community will remain strong to give users more choice and flexibility on their phones.

2. If the experience differs enough to not allow for Google Marketplace support, I'll just not buy your hardware. There are plenty of other manufacturers out there who will play ball.

There's pretty-much zero chance they will break compatibility with the Market. At worst, they might have a parallel Sense market for apps that specifically take advantage of what Sense offers.

Then there is no fear of fragmentation. While HTC might build their own apps and put them in their own store, I suspect that every developer that matters will not be stupid enough to build apps specific for HTC phones. The market is just not big enough. If a large majority of killer apps that work on other phones don't work on HTC phones (because it is missing certain Google features), carriers/customers will not like that. I don't see how HTC can marginalize Google that much without shooting themselves in the foot.

I disagree with you there. A lot of app devs already take into account Sense, and build compatibility for it. You can have the same app for vanilla Android and for Sense. So my thought would be the "Sense Store" would really be a showcase of Market apps that are Sense-aware. No fragmentation, more like a "bonus".

Google plans to deliver all their apps via HTML5 anyway. They'll be fine. Unfortunately, I don't have much faith that the hardware manufacturers will be able to deliver an experience comparable to Google's mobile service apps, let alone a better one. At least in the near future. Now that everything is just one giant slab of touchscreen, manufacturers are going to have to step up their software game.

...and I'm just curious: what happens if you try to install something like LauncherPro on a sense phone?

Interesting point about Microsoft. I wonder how long before they reconsider not making their own hardware and go full Apple. The Kin failure definitely hurt, but that was a result of poor pricing/marketing.

Then there is no fear of fragmentation. While HTC might build their own apps and put them in their own store, I suspect that every developer that matters will not be stupid enough to build apps specific for HTC phones. The market is just not big enough. If a large majority of killer apps that work on other phones don't work on HTC phones (because it is missing certain Google features), carriers/customers will not like that. I don't see how HTC can marginalize Google that much without shooting themselves in the foot.

I disagree with you there. A lot of app devs already take into account Sense, and build compatibility for it. You can have the same app for vanilla Android and for Sense. So my thought would be the "Sense Store" would really be a showcase of Market apps that are Sense-aware. No fragmentation, more like a "bonus".

What I mean is that no developer would build something that only is sold in the "Sense Store" or only works on an HTC phone. The "bonus" of Sense-awareness is one of the advantages of the Android platform over almost every other platform. In that way I think it is working exactly as Google planned and the article is sensationalizing the "marginalization of Google".

In the face of a competitor that handset companies can make unambiguously their own, there may not be much desire to develop and promote a platform that renders the choice of manufacturer all but irrelevant: a platform where every phone is going to be unambiguously Microsoft.

That's what people wanted. Microsoft took "accountability". Now if customer demand is higher than it was for the heavily OEM-differentiated Windows Mobile, then that's incentive to build them. I just hope these guys make some good phones and not act all anemic building nothing but "value play" phones for WP7

Google plans to deliver all their apps via HTML5 anyway. They'll be fine. Unfortunately, I don't have much faith that the hardware manufacturers will be able to deliver an experience comparable to Google's mobile service apps, let alone a better one. At least in the near future. Now that everything is just one giant slab of touchscreen, manufacturers are going to have to step up their software game.

...and I'm just curious: what happens if you try to install something like LauncherPro on a sense phone?

Interesting point about Microsoft. I wonder how long before they reconsider not making their own hardware and go full Apple. The Kin failure definitely hurt, but that was a result of poor pricing/marketing.

I have Launcher Pro installed on my HTC Incredible. It's not a big deal or anything. After installation, the first time you push the home key, a pop up asks you "Which application would you like to complete this action?" The options are HTC Sense and LauncherPro (and any other UI replacement if you have it installed I guess). Check the box that says "Use this as the default" and then choose LauncherPro. Your phone now uses LauncherPro instead of Sense. If you want to start using Sense again, you can simply go Menu>Settings>Applications>Manage Applications, find LauncherPro, and clear defaults. When you push home again, it will ask you which app to use, check the box and choose Sense and you're back.

Too much sensationalizing with this story. It gives the impression that the consumer won't have a real choice on phone software. The software is irrelevant. It's the hardware and how it's utilized that's going to make or break a phone. That is one of the reasons that Windows Phone 7 will never be a danger to the others. (Unless it's XBox 360 compatible)

That seems like one of the most shortsighted comments I've read in a long time. The software isn't important? If hardware were all that mattered Nokia would be booming: but their software is a mess, so people are looking elsewhere. The reason iPhone took off isn't because of the hardware- the iphone wasn't anything super-magical (there is a lot to be critical of, even now), but the software was pretty well done (and got better quickly). Software is exactly the most important part-there have been awesome hardware designs that got saddled with Windows Mobile- that worked out so well MS scrapped the whole system and started over.

What its interesting to view is the three different systems in play: one vendor controls both hardware and software with total control, another vendor sells the software to hardware vendors but retains control of the software side, and finally a vendor that sells the OS to hardware vendors, but gives up most of the control over everything (except for a few limited-but important- items). And Nokia is a mashup of all of them, with its different OSes and phones- almost its own separate market. Interesting to watch, and we'll see how it shakes out, but I think Google has the potential to see their platform fractured as each telco and manufacturer try to turn over customize to try to get people to their hardware/service.

Dad got an HTC Desire the other day. Two problems so far: 1) 2.2 was not available at the time due to some Desires being bricked by it--they are "working out the bugs" or something; 2) cannot use a $30 app from LogMeIn that was one of the main reasons he bought the phone. I hadn't given it too much thought, but if the reason for #2 turns out to be that the HTC Sense UI is incompatible, then ugh!

Otherwise the phone is great, but, seriously, ugh. I guess I will probably root my phone to vanilla Android or one of the good user-made ones if I ever get one.

A quick search found a couple of people with a similar problem with LogMeIn on the Desire. However, none of them say it doesn't work, just that sometimes they get a blank screen. They all have their pet solution of course.

Sense does not have a meaningful impact on app compatability. While there have been cases where several different HTC phones can't run certain apps (I'm looking at you Angry Birds) those are the exception, rather than the norm, and it's unrelated to Sense itself.